Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

Our second Drew Barrymore film comes fifteen years after our first. Directed by Raja Gosnell, 1999's "Never Been Kissed" follows Josie Geller (Barrymore), a 25-year-old copy editor for the Chicago Sun Times who is desperate to become a reporter, although her managing editor Gus Strauss (John C. Reilly) and her best friend Anita (Molly Shannon) express their doubts at her readiness. After a fluke assignment appears from editor-in-chief Rigfort (Garry Marshall), Geller is assigned to go undercover as a high school senior at South Glen South High School to find out what today's high-schoolers are really all about. But coming from a personal high school experience as a highly unpopular geek, Geller is woefully unprepared to deal with the mean girls, Kirsten (Jessice Alba), Gibby (Jordan Ladd), and Kristin (Marley Shelton), and the popular guys led by Guy Perkins (Jeremy Jordan). Fortunately, she's befriended almost immediately by calculus-club member Aldys (Leelee Sobieski). But cupid strikes when Josie meets English teacher Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan), even though she's supposedly a 17-year-old student. Eventually, her brother Rob (David Arquette) also enrolls as a senior and quickly becomes popular, providing Josie an 'in' with the cool cliques, although moving into those circles alienates Aldys. Plus, there's the unrequited attraction with Mr. Perkins. A merry, if somewhat uncomfortable at times, trip back to the perils and dramas of high school, but a wonderful vehicle for Barrymore's ability to portray lovable and dorky at the same time. Plus, the guys reveal what two horror films will make up this year's Halloween pairing!

This is the second pairing that comes to us from our Patreon family member Amy, who suggested the pairing we started this batch with, of films starring both John and Lionel Barrymore. Now, at the end of the batch, we're saluting the modern part of the Barrymore dynasty, Drew Barrymore! We start with one of her outings as a child actress in the film version of the Stephen King novel "Firestarter." Directed by Mark L. Lester, this 1984 outing finda Charlie McGee (Drew Barrymore) who is on the run with her father, Andrew (David Keith). We don't know who they're running from, but we learn quickly that both father and daughter are possessed of powerful mental abilities. We later learn that a vast government conspiracy, which Andrew refers to as 'The Shop', to capture the two and turn them into weapons controlled by one intelligence agency or another. The story then follows the father and daughter as they continue to flee, and the agents from The Shop who are bound and determined to bring them in. The film also stars Martin Sheen as Captain Hollister, the head of The Shop, George C. Scott as John Rainbird, the bounty hunter who makes it his mission to capture Charlie, as well as Art Carney, Louise Fletcher, Moses Gunn, and Antonio Fargas. One of the better adaptations of Stephen King and a marvel considering the 100% practical effects used in its creation.

Our second film pays tribute to the work of Tim Curry. Directed by Brian Henson, this is a pure pirate film, albeit with lots of singins and dancing thrown in. Gonzo (voiced by Dave Goelz), Rizzo (voiced by Steve Whitmire), and young Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop) discover that local drunk Billy Bones (Billy Connolly) is in possession of a treasure map, just in time for a group of pirates to come looking for it. They escape, aided by proprietor Mrs. Bluveridge (Jennifer Saunders) and find their way to a ship-building company where the layabout son of the owner, Squire Trelawney (Fozzie Bear, voiced by Frank Oz), agrees to help them sail off to find the treasure. On-board, Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo meet the ship's cook, one-legged Long John Silver (Tim Curry), first mate Mr. Samual Arrow (Sam the Eagle, also voiced by Frank Oz), and the hired commander of the ship, Captain Abraham Smollett, (Kermit the Frog, also voiced by Steve Whitmire). They set sail, and, as you might imagine from the title, get involved with betrayal, mutiny, and plunder, but also with friendship, loyalty, and ultimately a happy ending! Also featuring the voices of Jerry Nelson, Bill Barretta, and John Henson. And the trio reveals which pairing, suggested by Patron family member Amy, will make up the last pairing of the summer!

We begin a two-week tribute to two greats we lost recently: Dolly Parton and Tim Curry. Starting with director Herbert Ross' tear-jerker, 1989's "Steel Magnolias," we meet a newcomer to the small town of Chinquapin Parish in northwestern Louisiana, Annelle (Daryl Hannah) arrives at the beauty shop of Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton) to interview for a job. After getting the position, we meet the Eatenton family: Bride-to-be Shelby (Julia Roberts), gun-happy father Drum (Tom Skerritt), and matriarch and local psychiatrist M'Lynn (Sally Field) who are neck-deep in wedding preparations. When local busybody Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) shows up to face off with Drum about his gun use, Shelby and M'Lynn sneak off to Truvy's shop, where the local rich widow Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) is already getting her hair done before the nuptials. The story then speeds ahead over the next five-ish years as each of these women experience ups and downs including birth, wedding, death, and friendship. Also starring Sam Shepard, Dylan McDermott, Kevin J. O'Connor, Bill McCutcheon, and Ann Wedgeworth.

The second film in our "Hard Science Fiction" pairing pivots from human-created questions to other-worldly questions. In 2016's epic "Arrival," director Denis Villeneuve, and writers Eric Heisserer and Ted Chiang, twelve extraterrestrial craft land across the planet, containing creatures the U.S. military name "Heptapods." Unfortunately, their method of communication is truly alien to humankind, prompting the recruitment of a group of specialists from a variety of fields. University professor of language Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is brought to the Montana landing site by Colonel Weber (Forrest Whitaker). She is paired with theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and military chaperon Captain Marks (Mark O'Brien). As Banks and Donnelly discover that communication can happen by learning the written language of the Heptipods, other country's efforts begin to create tension as their experts react more dramatically to whatever they're discovering, creating a much greater sense of urgency for the American team. Also starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, and Frank Schorpion. And the trio reveal which two films they'll be reviewing for a tribute to both Dolly Parton and Tim Curry.

This is our extra mini-episode where we discuss the ending of "Arrival" including overt spoilers! So, if you haven't seen the film and don't want the ending spoiled, listen to the main episode and not this one!

This pairing focuses on films that "Hard Science Fiction," meaning heavy on the science, more so than the fictional aspect. Our first film is one of the early cinematic examinations of modern Artificial Intelligence. In 2015's "Ex Machina," writer/director Alex Garland gives us the story of a genius coder and inventor, Nathan (Oscar Isaacs), who invites a coder from his company, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), to come and stay with him for a week at his home/research lab. There, Nathan introduces Caleb to Ava (Alicia Vikander), an embodied AI, and asks Caleb to evaluate whether or not Ava is actually sentient. As the week progresses, Ava's sentience isn't the only thing called into question. What is Nathan's actual end-goal? Who, and what, is Nathan's servant Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno)? Was Caleb actually randomly selected? What is supposed to be accomplished by this week-long test? This film was one of the first to ask the specific questions about AI that many are asking publicly now, making it a true - if frightening - classic and, just perhaps, prescient!

This is our extra mini-episode where we discuss the ending of "Ex Machina" including overt spoilers! So, if you haven't seen the film and don't want the ending spoiled, listen to the main episode and not this one!

The second film in our tribute to the late Sam Neill is a small, independent film that most have never heard of, but one where Neill gives a truly outstanding performance. In 2001's "The Zookeeper," director Ralph Ziman takes us to civil war-torn Eastern Europe, where life has become a daily shelling barrage and a fight for survival. The local Zoo has lost most of its staff, save for an immigrant veterinarian (Om Puri) and a former Communist Party official turned zookeeper, Ludovic (Sam Neill). Even when everyone else flees the city, Ludovic stays to take care of the animals. He finds a young boy, Zioig (Javor Loznica), shell-shocked from the war, but who has taken a liking to the wolves in one of the exhibits, who he reluctantly takes in. Zioig end up bringing his mother, Ankica (Gina McKee) to the Zoo as well, and the three form an uneasy trio, fighting to keep the animals alive as well as hiding mother and son from the local militia, who have taken the title "The Young Lions," led by local warlord Dragov (Ulrich Thomsen). A stirring story that shows, rather than tells, the true horrors of war and how the innocent alwasy suffer, even if they're animals. Plus, the gents reveal which two hard Sci-Fi films make up the next pairing!

We're pausing our regularly-scheduled list of pairings to pay tribute to the late Sam Neill who passed away in mid-July, 2026. As we've done many of Neill's films already, we're going a bit deeper into his filmography for this pairing, starting with a horror film, the third in an unofficial trilogy. Directed by horror legend John Carpenter, 2001's "In the Mouth of Madness" is Carpenter's homage to all things H.P. Lovecraft! Neil plays John Trent, a veteran insurance investigator with a nose for scams and fraud. When publishing magnate Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston) hires Trent to find his missing best-seller author Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow), he sends his best editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen) along for the ride as they attempt to find Cane. After a disturbing drive, they arrive in the lost town of Hobb's End, which is the setting for most of Sutter's books, but is a place most insist doesn't actually exist. There, things continue to get stranger as it becomes evident that the town is being besieged by some sort of ancient evil... or is it? Trent begins to experience things that force him to question the nature of reality and whether or not he's actually experiencing the things he believes he is! Also starring David Warner, John Glover, Berney Casey, Peter Jason, and Frances Bay!